question for the krank owners

[Sinister Mephisto]

I'm quite interested in peoples opnions too. I have been debating which head to get to complement my JCM800. I've been considering either:

Krank Revolution
Older 5150
Dual Rectifier (older 2 channel)


I'm looking mostly for another amp to layer additional reamped guitars. The music I generally do is either straight ahead thrash metal, or As I Lay Dying type stuff....

I'd get the Rectifier. It will be more variety when used with a JCM then a Krank or 5150. But I bet you could get the same variety out of the Krank it just might take a little more work. All good amps, have fun!

 

[Dimebag-15]

it did take me a while to get my tone out of the krank, but it was so worth it in the end, it sounded exactly like the tone i've always been after. I actually sold my JMC 800 to get the krank

 

[DanAbela]

Ive been looking into getting a krank revolution head for a while now, but in England theres only 1 shop that sells them! :zombie: and theyre charging £1,600 for em and il be damned if I have to by anything from that shop again anyway as they possibly have the worst customer service known to man!

(rant over)

 

[cobhc]

Yeah, i tried a krankenstein out and i couldnt get it to stop from sounding shrill, even with fucking with the sweep control, bleh, maybe i'm just shit at dialing in amps lmao

 

[Dimebag-15]

ya, it takes a while to get used to kranks, the voicing is like no other amp i've tried

 

[SickBoy]

A friend of mine bought a Krankstein these days, along with the original cab, can't wait to give it a try...

 

[Dimebag-15]

nice, just remember, you can't figure these amps out in a day, the voicing is much different

 

[SickBoy]

Yeah, I reckoned as much... It will be fun twiddling the knobs though.

 

[Dimebag-15]

really, it drives me crazy when i can't find the perfect tone

 

[SickBoy]

Jesus Christ...
What an amp Krankstein is!!!
Whatever setting I did with it, it was defined perfectly (even with lotsa gain), but I liked the gain around 8-9 o'clockish the best for rhythm. When I'd dig with my pick it would be meaty just as I like it! The only complaint I have is that the Gain knob seems to act logarithmically instead of linearily. Just as you lift it off the ground it immediately has lotsa gain and past the half it seems to have little change in the amount...
Sweep is a godsend idea for a pot control, it shapes the same amp into so much varied sounds it's unbelievable! Well done Krank!

FWIW I tried it with my Kramer Baretta which has Kramer's QuadRail pickups and absolutely loved it. Didn't have an EMG equipped guitar to compare, but this was awesome nonetheless.

 

[Dimebag-15]

i'm glad you enjoy it

 

[JBroll]

SickBoy - I'm under the impression that if you have a lot of gain in very little space at the beginning, and little after about half, that would mean it's either linear or reverse log - scroll down about 2/3 of the way down at http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/potsecrets/potscret.htm and there's a visual of each pot's taper. Log sounds the most 'natural' in volume and gain circuits, because of the way we percieve loudness (logarithmic being percieved as steady increase, not linear). If you call Krank they'll probably tell you what's up and take care of it.

I'm heading over to Sam Ash soon to see which ones they have, and how much fun I can have with them - I haven't spent enough time on them, and I'll probably find what I'm looking for if half of what you guys say is true - as if I didn't have enough to save up for already.

Jeff

 

[SickBoy]

SickBoy - I'm under the impression that if you have a lot of gain in very little space at the beginning, and little after about half, that would mean it's either linear or reverse log - scroll down about 2/3 of the way down at http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/potsecrets/potscret.htm and there's a visual of each pot's taper. Log sounds the most 'natural' in volume and gain circuits, because of the way we percieve loudness (logarithmic being percieved as steady increase, not linear).

Sorry, I wasn't being very precise when I was writing the post...
Yeah, I'm aware that log pots make a smooth audible volume and/or gain transition, I was speaking merely of the way it "acts", the way I perceived the sound level increase. Nice article though, thanks!

I don't know if anyone else using Krankstein noticed such Gain pot behavior.
I know it's a high-gain monster, but you can't expect EVERYONE using it with gain turned to 11.
Dimebag-15?

If you call Krank they'll probably tell you what's up and take care of it.

I'd gladly call them if I was a) living in USA or b) owning that amp

 

[Dimebag-15]

here are my settings on my krankenstein:

Pres. - 5
Sweep - full
bass - 3.5
mid - 5
treble - 6
mast. 1 - 8
gain - 8.5

These are my settings right here

 

[Dimebag-15]

If you're looking for one of those tones where when you pick lightley it's clean and when you pick hard it breaks up (which i don't think you are), go on the clean channel, have the master volume high, and pull out the fx boost knob (on the back of the amp) and turn it up high

The reason i think you might have trouble getting lower amounts of distortion out of this amp is because when they designed this amp, they made it so the distortion hits much earlier so it is possible to get high amounts of distortion so you don't have to use overdrive pedals, ect. I would recomend for finding the perfect amount of distortion on this amp is turning the amps master volume to the volume you'd usually be playing at, then using different combinations of the dime channels master volumes, and the gain volume.

 

[J the TyranT]

I tried one and was not impressed. Now a band we played with had one and it sounded awesome I don't know what the difference was. If you like evil mids, try a Bogner.

Try a Bogner? Yeah, that's like someone saying their Camaro isnt cool enough and you suggest a Lamborghini... good attempt though?